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Encore Fails OSHA Standards
Encore's Hangar Encore's hangar is, befitting of his AC130U alternate form, a large empty space - three hundred feet per side, with a large roller-door making up one entire wall. There is, of course, Autobot-sized furniture in the room, most of it clustered in one corner. It consists of a recharge pallet, a table and chair with a terminal, and a workbench covered in strange alchemical-looking equipment that bubbles and hisses quietly, distilling small batches of energon moonshine for trial purposes. Posters decorate the walls, most of them for human battle vehicles - though there are a few that look like female autobots, who shall remain unnamed, in suggestive poses. Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Hey guys, I've got a new batch of shine comin' up, anyone wanna check it out?" Repugnus says, "Well... I wouldn't, normally, but hell, been a tough couple 'a weeks. Sure." Warpath has arrived. The tank splits down the middle, then rises up. The treads separate into legs and arms pop out of the sides. The head comes out of the top of the tank. It's Warpath! Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Nice, anyone else game? This is a new one, it's not intoxicating. It's a combat tonic" Repugnus says, "Eh?" Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Doesn't get you drunk, just gets the energon flowing a bit, keys the reflexes some." Repugnus says, "Hm. But what if I *did* want to get drunk?" Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Got plenty of that mate, but the next batch of good stuff ain't ready for another two or three days - the distillation's in a critical phase right now, secondary heating and separation." Repugnus says, "I see." Scattershot has arrived. Blurr says, "Soundsreallyreallygood -- butIdon't -- umm -- Idon'ttakewelltothatstuff, let'sjustputit*that*way, I'mgonnapassIthink!" Sergant-to-be Encore says, "I go some stuff that can mellow ya out too bud" Repugnus says, "Yeah, don't wuss out, Blurr." Scattershot says, "You can mellow Blurr out? Primus, make it happen." Let's Blow Scrap Up! Warpath says, "I'll POW, be there!" Let's Blow Scrap Up! Warpath says, "I'd pay good energon to see Blurr get ZOWIE, mellowed out, ha ha ha!" Scattershot says, "You got anything for Warpath's tourettes, Encore?" Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Not entirely sure... come by my hangar lemme find out" Repugnus says, "A drink that stops people from cussing? That's *awful!*" Sergant-to-be Encore laughs "I got some that -make- you swear... Repugnus says, "That's more like it!" There is a rapping, rapping sound at Encore's hangar door. But who is it, and what will this guest find when he enters?... Encore looks up from his work at one of the large stills and grins "Yo, come in!" He calls Warpath comes in. "POW, hi," he says, "So I hear you have some ZING, awesome drink?" Repugnus opens the door soon after Encore grants permission to enter, though perhaps that's not unlike giving a vampire the same privilege. "Yes, give me the one that makes you cuss uncontrollably!" he declares, grinning evilly. "I haven't cussed enough lately and I have to meet my quota." Encore grins a little and nod "Yeah man, a low dose of my newest creation - trying to make more utility mixes, you know?" He grins to Warpath, laughing at Pug. He hands over a cube of enershine, smirking. It seems to glow black, if that's at all possible. "That'll help!" When Pug takes the drink, the taste... it's so foul that it's hard to believe anything could taste that bad. It's surely bad enough to make one swear... Repugnus stares at the cube almost in disbelief. "*Black*? How the hell do you make an energon cube black? Did you just stuff a lot of oil into it or--ah, whatever..." He takes the cube to his mouth and tilts his head back, taking a sip at first... and immediately pulling it away. "Urrghh--f*** me, it's awful! What did you put in this thing, compost?" He pauses, staring at Encore. Then, he shrugs and begins guzzling down the rest. Whirl speaks up from where his head in visible leaning in the doorway. Could the Autocopter have been following Repugnus, his superior officer, fellow Wrecker and Whirl's secret idol? Ahem. "Hey guys!" he says cheerfully. "What's going on? You guys doing drinking? Is it good? It looks good. Well actually..." he takes a closer look now. "It looks awful. But I bet it's good. I know you can't judge a drink by it's color. Or smell. Or the faces people make when they taste it." He nods respectfully at Repugnus. Encore grins o Wrpath and slides him one of the cubes of new ener-tonic, which glows faintly orange. "Not sure what to call this one... wake-up juice maybe. I got the idea from an EDC colonel who rode with me a few weeks back - he had a flask of some shit called jinseng and royal jelly, said it was a great pick-me-up." He shrugs, waving to Whirl and tossing him one of the orange cubes. "Give that a swig, eh Whirl?" He pauses and laugh at Repugnus. "Most of the waste products from the good-quality enershines - there's lots of tasty nitrates and radionucleotides." Repugnus drains his cube, and tosses it away before it fades into nothingness. "Ermph. You callin' me a f***ing drink racist, Whirl, you c***monger? S***, I am cussing more, that stuff was *great.* I mean, it was f***ing awful, but it was f***ing *great,* too." He squints, wiping black fluid off his lips, then he licks the back of his hand. "Mmmh. Waste products, huh? So *that's* the secret. Well, people always said I had a s***-eating grin." Whirl catches the cube in a two-handed 'cradle' grip and then looks down at it. He hesitates for just a moment. Then he shifts his grip so that he's holding the orange cube in one hand and opens a panel on the forearm of his other, revealing a small port where he can pour the energon. Eh, whatever works. But then he pauses and turns his head to look at Repugnus. "What's this one do...?" Even as he asks the question he begins 'drinking'... Encore laughs widely and picks up a cube of the orange stuff himself, shaking his head at Repugnus. He pause a moment to adjust a dial and grins to Whirl "Ener-tonic. It's a non-intoxicating designed for combat use - that one's a pick-me-up and general stimulant." He grins, necking it back and rolling it around his mouth a moment. "Mmm. Sweet taste... you can really get the hydrogen sulphate flavour." He comments, evidently approving of the flavour. If one were to use metaphors to describe the flavour, it's fruity-sweet, like gatorade. Repugnus frowns a bit. "Hrmmm... sweet? Ehhhh.... well, hell, I suppose I can try one of the orange ones *one* time. It's a stimulant, though, right? So, what, I have one of these and I go berserk? Start ripping heads off with wild abandon?" "I like it!" Whirl announces, and his optic orb does indeed grow a little more brightly than it did before. Then he lowers the half-empty cube and walks over to stand next to the others. Still approaching when Repugnus mentions ripping heads off, Whirl corrects his path at the last moment so that he's standing in between Encore and Warpath. Then he takes in a bit more of the orange energon. "So wait, how many kinds of energon DO you make, Encore...?" Encore shakes his head and tosses one towards the monsterbot. "You'll be the only one disappointed when I say nothing so extreme, Puggy." He grins, looking over at Whirl. "Frag, I'unno, couple hundred or so?" He sniffs. "If I had more space I'd be able to make 'em all fairly regularly and set to work on designing some special ones." He laughs, adjusting the gas burner under one of the big production silos. "Most of it's booze, but I thought I needed to branch out and make some useful stuff." Repugnus catches the orange cube, then twirls it around on a fingertip for a moment. "Hm. Well, then..." He begins to drink it at a moderate rate, and as he does so he watches what Encore's doing out of the corner of his optic. "Hm... yeah... washing down the taste of that last one pretty good... though I don't call *that* a plus..." He looks up at the celing, frowning as he tries to judge how aggressive he feels at the moment. Whirl emits a low whistle. "Couple of hundred. Ah well, guess everybody needs a hobby." Warpath seems mesmerized by the orange tonic! So much so that it caused him to space right out the minute he took a sip. "Oh, BOOM, what were we just talking about?" he says, seemingly coming out of a daze. "That stuff's ZOOM, amazing!" Encore laughs "That's what I've developed - I started doing this way before I got frozen, way before the Ark and all that." He laughs, turning to a different still and checking the azure glowing green liquid that comes out. He grins, putting it back into the still. "This one's going well, it'll be ready in about a week." He sniffs, turning back to the stack of orange cubes. "Rather happy with it, myself." He agrees. "It's somewhat based on Red Rage... but with a few select ingredients taken out and diluted." Repugnus subtly begins to wander towards the still Encore had been working on a moment before, as if absent-mindedly wandering around as he drinks. "Hmm... I feel a little more amped up, but not crazy amped up... huh... how about that Red Rage? How much of that do you have left?" Whirl tilts his head to the side. "Red Rage? What's that?" He glances around, just as interested but probably searching for a cube glowing red. Possibly with smoke seeping from under the lid. And maybe even a nuclear tinge. "Red Rage, isn't that the one that ZING, makes you want to fight?" Warpath says. Encore grins quietly, shrugging slightly. "It's one I reserve for bar fights." he grins, nodding over at a secure, cooled container. "I save it for special occasions because it's taylored to tone down the killing instinct while increasing aggression." He sniffs, taking another swig of the orange stuff. "Mmm." Repugnus sighs. "What's the point of fighting if you don't fight to KILL someone, GAWD, Encore, you're f***ing doing it wrong, s***!" He drinks down the rest of the cube, and mostly just stands there by the still for a bit. Then, when he's pretty certain that no one is looking in his direction, he stoops down ever so slightly, reaches behinds himself with a hand, then adjusts the valve for the gas burner on the silo behind him so that it's all the way open. Then he slowly steps away like nothing happened. Whirl is completely oblivious to any underhanded shennanigans going on around him. He's still mesmerized by the idea of aggression without killing. He thinks they need a little more of that around the Autobot bases! Gathering up all his courage he dares to contradict Repugnus. "Well...something like that might come in handy. In certain circumstances. Um. I mean, wouldn't you agree?" Repugnus will notice a gauge on the tank start to slowly climb towards the red. Encore doesn't notice, for the moment at least, nodding to Whirl. "Yeah that's the point of it, I mean... last time I gave the stuff a shot, I had a game of face-pool with Carnivac... kicked 'is 'arse around the bar, but neither of us were out ta kill eachother, it was a laugh." He grins, making sure he's a safe distance from the silos to light a cigar. "It might help, but... yanno, we'd need to have a safe area to let off steam" Warpath keeps sipping at the orange beverage. "Maybe Encore will brew you a POW, berserker drink that won't hold back the killing instinct just for you," he says to Repugnus. Whirl makes shushing motions at Warpath where he thinks Repugnus won't see them. Repugnus does notice the gauge climbed upwards, but says nothing, and his face shows no sign something is wrong. "Eh, it's a really specific kinda aggression, Whirl. I guess it could be good for underground gladiators or some crap like that." Eventually he picks up on the fact that Whirl seems nervous around him. "Ha, what, you think you guys are gonna offend me? Me? Come *on.*" He tilts his head back, thinking. "Ah, but something that makes you a bloodthirsty psycho... *that* would be sumthin'." Encore shakes his head "Promised me bruv I'd never make something like that." He comments, the tank starting to creak quietly. "It's too dangerous, breaking down friend-or-foe boundaries. I might make something like that if it was gonna be used on the cons, but I'd have to clear it with Fanny first." He sniffs. The pressure gauge hits the red. Repugnus, noticing Encore sniffing the air, sniffs it as well. "What's that smell?" he says, despite knowing fully well what it really is. "Well, s***, that's too bad, because I'd order me a whole Exxon Valdez worth of that stuff." Whirl says, "Smell? What smell?" Encore blinks and looks over at Repugnus "Dunno, something's burning..." He comments, clocking the pressure gauge beside him. "Oh, frag! Repugus, get behind something! Everybody, DOWN!" The tank begins to creak -really- ominously, bulging slightly as a few rivets pop loose. Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Uh oh..." Hardhead says, "Status report?" Blurr says, "Badidea? I'llbetitturnedintoabadidea. Diditturnintoabadidea? Becauseitsoundedlikeonetome!" Repugnus sees the bulging tank, his optics going wide. "Ah, crap!" He kicks over a table and immediately dives behind it. "Not how I pictured this day going!" Whirl backs away from the tank as it begins to bulge, then dives for cover. "What's IN there anyway, Encore?" Whirl's voice is a little higher-pitched now, as various reflex and self-preservation subroutines come online. Rodimus Prime sounds half annoyed, like he's being pulled away from something important. Given the state of affairs, he probably is. "What's the problem?" Repugnus says, "Uh... you know if Inferno or Hot Spot are around?..." Saboteur Foxfire says, "Besides Blurr being on what the humans call a 'sugar rush'?" Whirl says, "What about First Aid?" Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Um-" Warpath's optics go as wide as the bulge. "Uh-oh, is that about to go KABLAM?" Rodimus Prime says, "Out with it, what's going on?" Saboteur Foxfire says, "Whatever it is, I didn't do it. I swear." The tank gives way with an almighty BOOM, causing a paint-singing flashover of flame and a fair shockwave that rips posters from the walls, shatters glass, and puts a huge hole in the hangar ceiling. It's likely they heard that through most of San Francisco, and that everybody's been pushed around... Repugnus says, "Well, you see--*BOOOOOOOM*" Sergant-to-be Encore says, "There's a loud BOOM from Encore's hangar. It shakes Autobot City, and echoes back off San Francisco." Saboteur Foxfire says, "Whoa!" Sergant-to-be Encore says, "++Catastrophic overpressure detected in hangar 17. Fire supression active.++" Rodimus Prime says, "What in the world!? Someone give me a status report!" Sergant-to-be Encore says, "..Ow... anyone hurt?" Saboteur Foxfire grumbles and sounds like he's picking up things that fell off the walls of his quarters. It turns out that the table didn't help very much, and ultimately Repugnus finds himself all the way on the other side of the hangar, slightly burning. "Ufft.... who let Motormaster drive around in here...." he grunts, lying on the floor, sprawled out awkwardly. Hardhead has arrived. Repugnus says, "I've been hit worse... nnnfff..." Whirl emerges from under some overturned furniture. He seems to have avoided the brunt of the impact by virtue of hugging the ground with his already ultra-skinny form. "Encore? Warpath? Repug--oh, there you are." Rodimus Prime says, "Now would someone kindly explain exactly -what- happened down there? Or am I going to have to call this command meeting short to personally investigate?" The hangar is... trashed. Encore picks himself up from the floor and brushes himself down, looking at his ruined distillery system with his face blackened. The central tank has vented its contents skywards, but sent significant shrapnel in all directions and scorched the walls quite extensively. "Everyone OK?" He asks, looking around at the devastation. "I am... -so-... screwed..." Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Well... sir... um... I kinda... sorta... had a distilling accident." Warpath is thrown across the room and hits the wall hard. "Owww, someone get the number of that POW, truck..." Rodimus Prime says, "A distilling accident." Rodimus Prime says, "That causes an -explosion- in Autobot City?" Wheeljack says, "Someone besides me blew up something!... err, I mean, that's too bad." Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Well... I'm still investigating what happened but I think I had a catastrophic overpressure..." Rodimus Prime says, "At least when I hear an explosion from Wheeljack's lab I know it generally involves something related to weapons or actual explosives." Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Probably caused by a burner malfunction." Saboteur Foxfire says, "Rodimus, can I bite someone?" Whirl says, "You were right Encore. Aggression in a cube. I love it!" Wheeljack says, "Yeah at least I.. heeey" Tank Destroyer stands on the outside of the hanger as he stares at the carnage in front of him. He shakes his head as he stares at the aftermath. "Ah...slag." He just says as he blankly looks at each of the other Autobots. Wheeljack says, "Someone had a still up and didn't tell me?!" Rodimus Prime grumbles, "This is NOT the time for this." Wheeljack finally gets caught up to the conversation Repugnus says, "Heh... would been thermonuclear if Wheeljack got on in this..." The tank almost seems to pull a wheelie as the front treads lift off the ground. The fancy transforming sound rings out as the tank quickly folds out into a robot. For a brief moment, it appears a humanoid form leaped out of the cockpit and became the Robot's head. The transforming sound finishes and now stands Hardhead. Saboteur Foxfire says, "Want me to take care of it, boss?" Rodimus Prime says, "Encore I want your little mad scientist lab packed up and out of Autobot city within the hour. I don't where you take it but I don't want it anywhere near where it can do harm to innocent people either. We might need Metroplex ready to fight at any moment and we can't risk -any- unnecessary damage to him." Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Energon's pretty... volatile... if it gets too hot. I'm guessing the burner jammed open and... well, it boiled over. Er. Sorry boss." Sergant-to-be Encore says, "Aw, scrap. Yesir." Repugnus remains where he is on the ground. The flames are sputtering out a bit. "Yep... think I'll just... stay here. For a bit. Don't mind me." Wheeljack says, "Well then Rodimus, you'll be relieved to know that instead of building a new lab in Autobot City I'm just gonna reactivate the shop here in the Ark." Wheeljack says, "... Though not sure if that bust on the wall is flattering or kinda creepy now." Scattershot says, "The Ark still works? Does it smell like mothballs?" Rodimus Prime says, "You also have the benefit of a lab triple layered in battleship-grade armor plating, Wheeljack." Spindrift laughs, "Red Alert always complained it still wasn't enough protection." Encore sighs at the radio comms and shakes his head, moving to shut off the gas supply and begin shutting down the whole operation. "Fanfare's gonna be -narked- about this..." He mutters, shaking his head. He looks to the others to make sure they're OK, then looking back at Hardhead. "Smeg... you guys OK?" Scattershot has left. Whirl wanders around the wreckage picking at odds and ends. "So...banished from the base eh? Well I'm sure you'll be back on your feet in no time." He ends his little tour next to Encore so he accompanies his words with a sympatheric pat on the back. "Thanks for the cube though!" Whirl has left. Hardhead lets out a grunt as he slowly steps through the wreckage. "Primus, we are trying to win a war..." He moves to Warpath and offers the tank mech a hand to help him up. He looks and shrugs. "Ok, let's get this...stuff..." He waves his hand towards the drinking supplies. "Out of here, you have a place where you want it, Encore?" Warpath takes Hardhead's hand and is helped up. "Yeah, have you got any ZING, ideas where to set up a still?" he wonders, "Maybe out in the mountains?" "Nope," Repugnus says from the floor. "Not really okay. Still lying here. Uh. Well. Actually. I might have an idea or two, Encore..." Hardhead slowly makes his way towards Repugnus as he shrugs to Warpath. "No ideas here..." He offers a hand to Repugnus. "I'm going to count my fingers after this..." He says jokingly to the Monsterbot. Encore looks over at Repugnus. "But I gotta make you some psycho juice, right?" He grumbles, dusting himself down again, fruitlessly. "Yeah it's gonna take a few run to get all the stuff out of her, if you've got a place it'd be a help for sure. Gonna need it to be strong-walled with a flimsy ceiling" Repugnus smirks up at Hardhead as he takes the hand, using it to help him stagger up. "You're learning, Hardhead! Heheheh... ahkk..." Even while standing up, he's hunched over with a hand over his back. "Yeah, well, we can talk about that later. But, uh... yeah, I know these... *guys* who have a facility or two that you could use. Just gotta get some new parts and you'll be set up good as new." Hardhead grins ever so slightly to Repugnus as he nods. He then looks between Encore and Repugnus. "You could contact the EDC and see if they are interested in your new explosives..." On the sly he counts his fingers...all eight of them and his two thumbs. Encore nods a little and looks at Pug "So what's the catch?" he sniffs, shrugging. "Might be good to have multiple locations to do this stuff..." He agrees, shaking his head at the devastation. "Shit." Repugnus strokes his chin. "The catch? Oh, well, I guess we can do some bargaining if you insist. I just want... a little bit of your stuff. The *good* stuff." "If you need POW, help setting up multiple locations, I can ZING, do that," Warpath offers. Encore rolls his optics "We'll see when I get up and going." He shakes his head a bit, starting to pick up fragments for sorting and transport as he continues to shut down the distillery. "Cool man it'll be helpful." Hardhead shrugs slightly. "I can...assist with moving items." It's hard to notice, but Repugnus is smirking ever so slightly. Just as planned. Blurr says, "I'dliketoknowsomething, I'dliketoknowwhysomethingthat'ssupposedto 'mellow-you-out' causesanEXPLOSION. That'sjustreallysuspicious." Sit-Com says, "No smoking near the gas station." Spindrift says, ".. I have no idea what he just said."